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Thursday, January 01, 2009

Happy New Year, 2009!!

Happy new year, everyone!
As I have been taking medicines, I shouldn't have alcohol, but tonight I had it for special occasion and now am feeling so good, ke ke ke!

The new year has already started (in Japan), but let me report about our last Christmas!
The last month, my husband was away for business trip, so only two of us, Tass my son and I spent Christmas together!

Just for two, so I didn't cook so much! lazy mum, aren't I?!
And my son seemed not understanding what the Christmas is exactly, so I didn't ask him what he wants for Christmas, because I knew his answer, it's TOY CARs!!!
He has thousands of toy cars, so we want him to change his mind a bit recently...

I have never heard of this idea before, but the last year I red at someones blog that in Western countries, they left cookies and milk (some food and drinks?) for Santa and go to bed, then next morning when children saw the dish, they have gone and children will surprise! (my memory might be at fault, is this OK??? if it's different from your tradition, please let me know!)
I thought this is so romantic and magical for children and nice idea, so from this year I decided to do the same!

Of course there is no fire place in my house, so we left cookies and milk for Santa on the console table at our entrance, and told my son "if cookies and milk have gone tomorrow morning, it means Santa really came our home!!"
I don't know he really understood what I said, but he seemed a bit excited! :)


In Japan, the Christmas present is always left beside pillow on a boxing day.
How about in your countries?? Presents are left under the tree? In the stocking??
When he found his present beside his pillow, he said "Wow, Santa really came here for me to left a present, Yahoo (Yatta-)!!", it was so sweet!

And here... Santa ate our cookies and drunk milk (of course I did, lol)!!
He was not sure about this story yet, but I told him about it and he said, "Oh, I see! (lol)".
Probably next year he will understand properly. :)

Santa presented him many books.
In his mind, there is always full of cars, so we want him to read books more and more.
I wasn't sure he would be pleasure or not, but he said he is happy to receive books from Santa, so I felt very relief! :)

Before he always asked me to read (show) toy cars picture book, but recently he is getting interested in other story books.
And after Santa presented him books, he asks me to read his favourite book before he sleep! (good thing!!)
Today he even asked me to read English books like Humpty Dumpty which Carol R. gave him before. (actually it was difficult for me, too! LOL)
Books are from Santa, and I presented him a book shelf to store them all!
It was just two of us, but we had a lovely Christmas!

In Japan, the Christmas mood has already gone and now it's totally New Year's mood!!
This morning I will put New Year's wreath on the front door.
So we soon put Christmas tree and all decorations away...
And soon have to prepare for the New year, so this time of year is always quite busy for parents!

Today I should go to PIL's house, but I will not take MIL's nasty words to my heart, I have so many wonderful friends LIKE YOU!!!
And I will buy talisman (lol) before we go there! and will wear the knit that my mum made for me, to feel mum is being with me to cheer me up!

I hope nothing the worst thing will happen on the New years day!!

Take care and thanks for visiting!
Let's talk soon! xx

33 comments:

Sheila said...

Yes - Santa drinks the milk and eats the cookies. Sometimes there are carrots for the reindeer too :)Thank you for sharing all your lovely work with us this year and Best Wishes for 2009. And don´t let you MIL upset you today - Be Happy :)

Nina said...

Happy New Year dear Yuko!!

Your little son is so cute :)
Thank you for these lovely photos, I have a very godd feeling now...
In my country the time is 5:40 pm so we are in the old year yet... So interesting, you are in 2009 :)))

Sheila said truly: Be Happy!!

Hugs,
Nina

Irene said...

Sounds like a lovely Christmas for you and your son. Happy New Year !

Melissa said...

Those early years when a child discover Christmas is so much fun! Thank you for sharing the photos and stories.

All the best to you and your family, Yuko!

Dovilė said...

Happy New Year, Yuko and your family!

stitchersanon said...

It is only 17.19 here, so still 2008 for a few hours yet.
We leae a glass of wine, a mince pie and a carrot for the reindeer. I get the wine, dad gets to leave teeth marks in the carrot ;-).
The children have one present on their bed and the rest are downstairs by the tree.
What ever you do, it is just nice starting new traditions with your children and you son looks like he enjoyed his christmas very much!

Cindy F. said...

Yes, like Sheila said milk, cookies and carrots for the reindeer. ...and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nick soon would be there....Santa fills the stockings with little treats. We never wrap the Santa treats or gifts he leaves under the tree (in our family). So when we were young, gifts that weren't wrapped or in the stockings, we knew immediately were from Santa:)
Happy New Year Yuko! It's only 11:30 a.m. New Year's Eve here. And Mr. Right's birthday is tomorrow...New Year's Day!! So we celebrate @ midnight tonight to welcome new year and his birthday:)

Ginnie said...

We used to leave Santa some wine and a mince pie!! All our presents have always gone under the tree to open Christmas morning! Happy New Year to you all.

angelasweby said...

Yuko hi there,
A happy early New Year to you. We still have 6 hours to go before we greet the New Year.

When the children were small, we used to love leaving a mince pie (this is a sweet little cake) and a glass of sherry for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer. It was always gone by the morning. Our children had a stocking at the end of their bed with a few little gifts. They could open these as soon as they woke on Christmas morning. Then the main presents were all under the tree to open later in the morning.

Both our children loved books even when they were very small. Even now, there are always a few books in their presents. Alexis had one about the Spiritual journey of a Snowboarder. her was very pleased. Rula had some books, one was about the letters beatrix Potter wrote to children.

I think it is a lovely idea that you are starting this tradition with Tasuku. Next year he will understand it more and really enjoy it. He always looks so happy in your pictures.

I will be thinking of you and sending strong positive thoughts to help you through. It will be over very quickly :>) I will also add a wish to my New Year list and ask that your MIL be a much nicer person in 2009...haha!
Warm hugs, Yuko

Karoline said...

Happy new year Yuko, lovely photo's of your Christmas

Mãe da Rita said...

In Portugal, we had no tradition of leaving food for Santa. When I was a child, we use to put our shoe in the kitchen' chimney and around 12 o' clock the presents were all there! Now, we put presents under the tree. At home, we have a fire pace but it's closed for keeping the heat and we went to my parents' house, 5 minutes far... My daughter specially loved one Winnie the Pooh that things and tells histories, some books (Peter Rabitt, do you know?) and Ruca (french\ canadien Caillou) and some puzzles. At this time, I think it's already New Year for you. May it be a real good New Year!! Hugs and kisses! MJ

Cindy said...

It sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas! We always left milk and cookies for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer. We would receive presents in our stockings and under the tree.

Happy New Year!!! We have 11 hours yet to go here :)

Anonymous said...

When I was growing up, each of my siblings and I would have a pillowcase, which we put in "our" corner of the living room, so that Santa could leave us our gifts.

My husband's family didn't have that tradition, so now Santa leaves his gifts under the tree.

My DS leaves milk and cookies out for Santa (although this year, he left fudge, as we didn't have any cookies!)

Happy New Year to you and your family! I'm sorry that your husband wasn't home for Christmas. :(

Carol R said...

We would leave mince pies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer and one year Santa forgot to wipe his boots and left fairy dust (glitter) footprints around the firepace. (I think I was still hoovering it up the following Christmas!!) He would leave their gifts in a pillowcase at the foot of their beds. Such a magical time in a child's life!

Happy New Year to you, AJ and sweetie.

Sending you happy thoughts during your visit with the PILs - SMILe

xxx

Marnie said...

How very sweet of you to introduce your son to these traditions! When I was a child, my mother sewed an oversized black plush "Santa's pack", complete with white pom-pom drawstring. We opened presents on Christmas Eve with family but rushed downstairs on Christmas morning to see what Santa left us in his pack. Mom kindly returned the "forgotten" pack to the North Pole the day after Christmas. In our house, Santa preferred Oreo cookies with his milk, and we also left a few baby carrots for the reindeer. I have a feeling Dad got the Oreos and Mom got the carrots! Oh what fun we had.

Marie said...

It sounds like you had a nice Christmas with your adorable son!
There is a neat design by JBW called: Jolly Old St. Nicholas seen here:
http://www.crossestitchery.com/jbwdesigns.html
It would be perfect for your Milk nd Cookie display each year.
I do hope that you had a stress free visit with your MIL/PIL.
wishing you much happiness in the New Year.

Loreta said...

Happy New Year, Yuko!

Anonymous said...

May this new year be filled with joy, peace and happiness! My best wishes to you and yours!

Anne said...

Happy new year to you and your family Yuko! May it be filled with joy, peace and happiness !!! I wish you all the best for your visit to your Pil's!!!

Lara said...

С Новым годом!!! Мира и благополучия!!!

Dorothy said...

Happy New Year Yuko. That was a lovely way to introduce your son to a Christmas tradition. Thankyou for sharing with us. I hope your visit to the In-Laws wasn't too stressful!

Ele said...

Dear Yuko,

whish you, your little son and the whole familiy a very Happy New Year and all my best for 2009!

Hugs and kisses
Gabriele

Nancy said...

I am happy you and your son enjoyed Christmas together! He looks very sweet reading his books. We used to leave milk and cookies for Santa when our daughters were little girls, and the surprise in their eyes was always very magical!

Happy New Year to you and your family Yuko! I hope it brings to you everything that your heart desires. What is a New Year's wreath? Will you share a photo?

Anonymous said...

I think you and your son had a lovely Christmas. Santa leaves fruit and candy in our children's stockings and puts their gifts beside them in the living room for them to find in the morning. I went overboard and decorated three large trees and two small trees this year. My daughter and I made a gingerbread house too. We had a fun holiday! I will post pics of all my trees on my blog for all to see what a nut I am LOL!

Hazel said...

Sorry your husband was not there to share this special time of year with you and your son although it looks like you had a very lovely time. He is so cute! Hope your trip to MIL goes okay. Hugs,xx

hohla said...

Happy New Year!

Paisley said...

Happy New Year, Yuko! It looks like you had a nice Christmas. Not only did we leave cookies and milk out for Santa when the kids were little, but we'd also leave carrots for his reindeer. I would always make sure to leave one cookie with a big bite taken out of it, and a little bit of milk in the glass.

staci said...

We always set out milk and cookies for Santa, and sometimes a note for him too :) And the kids always find a few crumbs and a drop of milk in the morning, lol :)

Your son looks adorable reading his book :) Happy New Year Yuko!

Julie said...

Happy New Year, i hope your visit went well.

Anonymous said...

Happy new year ! When my sons were little , they liked to leave some cookies and milk for Santa but now , as they don't believe anymore , we all drink milk and eat cookies :oD
I like all Christmas traditions from each country so we've stockings , presents under the Christmas tree and so long.
Hugs,

Teri said...

Happy New Year, Yuko, to you and your family!

Akila said...

Hi Yuko, A very happy new year to you. My name is Akila. I learnt of your blog from another blog. What great photographs you have posted!!! Such clarity, it is amazing. My blog is http://mostly-xstitch-and-somemore.blogspot.com/

flom said...

Je te souhaite une merveilleuse Année 2009
Amitié
flo